Honey
by coconutmandarin
Summary: He never finished his sentence because Tenten pulled his face forward none too gently and pressed her mouth to his.


**Honey**

_He never finished his sentence because Tenten pulled his face forward none-too-gently and pressed her mouth to his.

* * *

_

**My first Naruto fic! I fell in love with Sasuke and Sakura first…but I felt that Neji and Tenten suited this plot more than they did. Enjoy!

* * *

**It was supposed to be a routine mission: travel to Yukigakure in the Land of Snow, retrieve some scroll about special chakra armor, and return to Konoha all happy and safe that they were lucky enough to get such a relatively easy A-rank mission.

Instead, they were attacked by a group of shinobi on the way back to Konoha, barely missing the barrage of kunai and shuriken thrown at them in the dusky haze of the evening.

The Hokage must have forgotten a few mission details in her drunken stupor.

_Why do I idolize her again?_ Tenten wondered as she bandaged her arm with one hand, ripping the gauze with her teeth. After defeating the shinobi, Team Gai had set up camp in the woods in order for the members to rest and recuperate. They were now sitting around the campfire; Tenten was busy with her wounds while her teammate Hyuuga Neji was tending to some minor cuts on the back of their other teammate Rock Lee in a rare act of charity.

"Neji-san, must you be so rough in mending the wounds of my youthfulness?" The patient wailed, his skin stinging from where Neji had slapped on the healing ointment.

"Be thankful that I'm doing this," Neji responded as he forcefully rubbed the cream into a particularly nasty-looking gash on Lee's shoulder blade.

"_Owww!_" Lee howled, jerking his body out of Neji's merciless grasp. "Gai-sensei! Why can I not be assisted by the youthful flower of our team instead? A woman's touch must be more sensitive than that of Neji-san's!"

"In case you haven't noticed Lee," Neji bit out, "Tenten is busy. Suck it up."

"That's right, Neji!" Boomed the loud voice of their sensei Maito Gai. "In order to master the ways of the ninja my dear Lee, you must withstand the pain of your wounds! Your youthfulness must triumph! Your youthfulness must prevail! YOSH!"

"Oh Gai-sensei," Lee gushed, momentarily forgetting the pain of his healing session, "I will do it for you! I will overcome the agony of these superficial wounds! Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

And as the blazing fireball of youth set over the horizon, its gleaming golden rays melting into the waves of the ocean, a half-naked Lee ran off with his darling beloved sensei into the darkness of the woods, leaving their two unmoved teammates behind.

Nothing but the chirping of crickets was heard.

"Heart-wrenching, wasn't it?" Tenten said tonelessly as she finished tying the last of her bandages.

"Hn."

"Have you eaten yet?" She asked, reaching into her knapsack to pull out a few packages.

"No."

It was amazing how as soon as they were alone together, Neji's vocabulary was reduced to one-syllable words.

"You have to eat to get back your energy."

"I don't need it."

Wow. Four syllables.

"Neji…" She growled warningly.

"Tenten."

"Neji!" She yelled, "If you don't eat I swear, so help me Kami-sama, that I will force-feed you myself!"

He smirked, the corner of his thin lips quirking upwards slightly. It did nothing but enhance his coldly handsome looks and Tenten found herself unable to drag her eyes away from his mouth. Noticing this, Neji remarked cheekily, "I'd like to see you try."

That did it. His arrogant contempt for everything and everyone around him always managed to snap her out of her Neji-induced, lovestruck moments. Ripping open a package of dried fruit, Tenten popped a piece of dried apricot into her mouth and reached over to grasp Neji's chin.

"Tenten what are you-"

He never finished his sentence because Tenten pulled his face forward none-too-gently and pressed her mouth to his. Stunned, Neji sat there as she took advantage of his parted lips and using her tongue, gently slid the piece of fruit into his mouth. Her lips remained on his for a little longer than necessary before she jerked back, as if she just realized what she was doing.

"Eat," She commanded, her voice slightly breathier than usual.

Slowly, Neji obliged. Never once did his eyes leave hers and when he finished, he kept staring at her. Unnerved, Tenten frowned.

"W-what?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he just continued to stare at her, his pearl-gray eyes boring into her own brown ones.

"Neji, what is it? Did you like the apri-"

She never finished her sentence because at that moment, Neji took her face into his hands and kissed her. She had noticed the softness of his lips when she fed him, but it seemed as though it was for the first time she noticed it now. Every sense was heightened to an unbearable degree as Neji gently parted her lips, his tongue sliding in to languorously explore her mouth. Slowly, Tenten responded and soon, the relaxed state of their kiss became heated, passionate. His tongue tangled with hers as his hands gripped her hair firmly. Their kiss broke when he pulled her head back, his lips sliding down the length of her neck, caressing the tender skin there. Tenten gasped, her hands grasping his hair to weave in and out of his silky black locks.

"Neji…" She moaned as his lips came back up to claim hers once more. They stayed like that for a while, their mouths fused together in an intense lip-lock, until they simultaneously broke it off in order to breathe again. Panting slightly, Neji looked at her.

"What were you saying?" He asked, his voice husky from its five or so minutes of non-use.

Tenten blinked, trying vainly to regain sense of her surroundings. "I…wanted to know if you liked the apricot…"

He grunted. "I've tasted sweeter." And he leaned in once more to savor the honeyed essence of which no fruit could ever compare with.

Unbeknownst to them, two pairs of eyes were watching from behind the nearby bushes.

"Isn't that beautiful Lee?" Gai sobbed, two rivers of tears spilling forth from his eyes. "Isn't that the most joyous display of youth you have ever seen?"

"Hai Gai-sensei!" Lee replied, himself weeping drops of saline down his face. "Neji-san has finally embraced his youthful love for our flower Tenten. Oh, Gai-sensei!"

"Oh Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

They rushed towards each other but their attempt at bear-hugging was foiled when a shuriken came whizzing at their heads.

"YOU TWO!" Came the roar of an enraged weapons mistress.

Gai looked at his favorite student.

"RUN FOR YOUR YOUTHFUL LIFE!"

* * *

**Ahahaha I love Gai and Lee. I got the feeding idea from reading the synopsis of the Tan Dun opera **_**The First Emperor**_**. I don't know how I feel about this…transitions were a little shaky from Neji/Tenten to Gai/Lee. Oh well.**


End file.
